


the antidote

by jenma



Category: Choices: Platinum (Visual Novel), Platinum (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Smut, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:21:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27458653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenma/pseuds/jenma
Summary: cadence realizes raleigh stopped by her apartment late at night and decides to patch things up.
Relationships: Raleigh Carrera/Main Character (Platinum)
Kudos: 1





	the antidote

**Author's Note:**

> author’s note: follow-up to “hopeless.” i hope you enjoy!  
> copyright: all characters owned by pixelberry studios. songs and lyrics owned by their respective creators.  
> series/pairing: platinum – m!raleigh carrera x mc  
> rating/warnings: mature; swearing and smut  
> word count: 2.9k  
> based on/prompt: “love in the dark” by adele / “golden” by harry styles

**_the antidote_ **

raleigh lifted his head from his hands and winced at the pain in his neck. he slowly started massaging the side of his neck and glanced at his phone. it was almost midnight and he was almost positive that cadence wouldn’t still be out. maybe she went to matt’s instead. was she living with him? shit, he didn’t even stop to consider that she might not even live in this apartment anymore. maybe it really was hopeless. he rubbed his eyes and stood up to leave.

by the time he got back to his apartment, it was almost 1am. stupid late night construction on the bridge turned a 20 minute car ride into 40 and even though he really should just go to bed, he was going to polish off that bottle of mezcal he started and indulge (although some would all it torture) himself. he set his phone to cast to his tv and hit play on cadence’s video album. just for a moment, he wanted to pretend she was singing for him.

he made himself comfortable on the couch with his half-finished bottle of mezcal as his surround-sound speakers reverberated softly with cadence’s soulful voice; it was as though his home speaker set-up was tuned just for her. he poured himself a glass only to quickly drain it, so he poured himself another.

 _i can’t love you in the dark  
_ _it feels like we’re oceans apart_

ironically, or maybe not so ironically, raleigh was sitting in the dark, looking up at cadence’s beautiful, crying face on his enormous tv. god, she even somehow made crying look beautiful. for some reason, this song in particular hit closest to home for him. in a way, cadence was finally acknowledging that he was always dragging her down into his dark, self-destructive headspace and she needed more, she needed to be in the light so she could live the life she was meant for.

at the end of the song, raleigh switched off the tv and pulled up his recording app. he had been working on a song for months and had the track laid out but couldn’t seem to get the lyrics right. he grabbed his guitar from the other end of the couch and played a few warm-up chords. he really shouldn’t try to sing or record anything while drunk, but he’d deal with the mess in the morning.

as the opening track played in the background, he closed his eyes and recalled his favorite memory. they were sleeping in, with cadence using his arm as a pillow. the sun was starting to rise and beam through his penthouse windows, and raleigh shifted carefully onto his side so he could use cadence’s head to block out the sunlight hitting him directly in the face. as he was closing his eyes to sleep a little more, he noticed that the sun was leaving a golden hue around her head and body, making it seem like she was glowing.

cadence sighed and looked at her phone. it was almost midnight. he was probably out clubbing and hooking up with a model or something and cadence knew if she stayed here all night she would regret it. maybe she read him wrong. maybe he only wanted to know if she loved matt because he was angry she didn’t give him a heads up and not because he still had feelings for her. she requested a dryve before putting her shoes back on and heading back downstairs.

she raised her head tiredly when the driver stopped at her apartment and dragged her aching feet to the elevator and down the hallway to her unit. she stopped in front of her door, puzzled at the crumpled piece of clothing on the floor before picking it up. she held it up in front of her and recognized it as the maroon suit jacket raleigh was wearing earlier that evening. cadence smiled to herself as she changed out of her gown and let her hair down. maybe it wasn’t hopeless after all.

* * * * *  
raleigh groaned at the pinging noise from his phone indicating he was getting text messages. why didn’t he put his phone on silent? he reached over and was confused when his hand landed on pure air instead of his mattress or nightstand. he cracked an eye open and realized he fell asleep on the couch, which he was going to pay for later. raleigh sat up and stretched before grabbing his phone off the floor and opening his messages.

whatever hungover state he was in disappeared when he realized they were all from cadence.

_cadence: [i assume this was a gift for me, but it doesn’t quite go with my dress]_

she sent him a selfie of her wearing his jacket over her gold dress from last night. which meant she eventually did make it home. and that he left his jacket at her apartment like an idiot.

_cadence: [actually, i think it looks better like this, but it’s a bit big don’t you think?]_

his eyes widened when he saw the last message she sent, which was just a selfie of her wearing the jacket without a shirt underneath. she blocked out her face and the picture only showed the top half of her body, but it was enough to send blood rushing south and raleigh groaned again, rubbing his hands over his tired face. he was not sober enough to process this.

a knock on the door made his stomach suddenly drop with anxiety. he stood up and dragged his feet to the door, not bothering to check who it might be before opening it, only to have his jaw drop in surprise to see cadence. and of course, she looked absolutely perfect in a yellow romper, her long hair pulled back into a loose ponytail with wisps of hair framing her nervous face.

“hi,” she said, licking her lips nervously.

“hey,” was all raleigh could get out as he blinked rapidly to wake himself up.

“can i come in?” he nodded and stepped away from the door.

cadence followed and set her bag down before handing him an iced coffee and the breakfast burrito she grabbed on her way over. he looked at her quizzically but didn’t hesitate to start scarfing down the food.

“i figured you might be hungover and we didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation last night,” cadence said, shrugging nonchalantly to hide how nervous she was.

raleigh took a long sip of his coffee before answering, “how did you figure that?”

“because i _know_ you, raleigh. even if you like to act like i don’t. also, clearly you came by my apartment last night given you left this there,” she said, taking out his jacket from her bag and folding it neatly on the kitchen table.

raleigh looked away and finished off his breakfast. “a crazy fan could’ve taken it from me while i was out last night and left it at your place,” he said, shrugging. he looked over at cadence with a smirk and chuckled at the same time she giggled at how ridiculous he sounded.

“so you were at my apartment while i was at yours,” cadence said. she waited a beat for it to click for raleigh; once she noticed the shift in his eyes and brow, she continued, “so, let’s talk.”

“you’re the one who didn’t answer my question,” raleigh pouted. he was not going to make this easy for her, hungover state or not.

cadence folded her hands in her lap. “okay… let’s talk about the real reason you didn’t want our relationship to be public.”

raleigh stopped drinking his coffee mid-sip. “you know the reason. i was trying to protect you – your reputation, your career – from being associated with me.”

“okay, let’s agree that is one reason, but i know there are other, more significant ones, raleigh,” cadence said, a little bit annoyed. “i have a whole team whose job it is to worry about my career and reputation; i didn’t need you to worry about that too, and you know it. so be honest with me for once.”

raleigh looked away from cadence and out at his living room, which illustrated how much of a mess he was last night, with his guitar sitting on the coffee table next to the empty bottle of mezcal and his clothes from last night strewn all over the floor.

“okay, i guess i’ll just tell you what i think until you’re ready to talk. i think you were afraid of getting hurt,” cadence started hesitantly. raleigh turned back to look at her and looked as though he was genuinely considering her words, giving her the courage to continue. “for some reason, you think you don’t deserve me, and instead of working to prove to me that you do, you decided, by yourself without consulting me, that some day i might realize i deserve better than you. and the thought of losing me scared you, so instead you protected yourself by hiding our relationship.”

“that doesn’t sound like me,” raleigh said, with a sharp edge to his voice. how dare she try to psycho-analyze him? but he knew, deep down, that she was right. he felt vulnerable and terrified and unprepared for the damage she could do to him if he let himself fall for her. so he kept her at a distance.

“i wouldn’t be so sure,” cadence said slyly, pulling out her phone and pressing play.

a familiar track started playing and raleigh’s eyes widened in panic.

“cadence, i miss you so much, baby,” raleigh heard his drunken self croon out and cringed. when and why the fuck had he sent this to cadence?

 _i know you were way too bright for me  
_ _i'm hopeless, broken_

raleigh buried his face in his hands. if it was possible to die of embarrassment, this would be his moment. he had finished the song drunkenly last night and thought he was merely recording it for himself, but he must’ve sent her a voice recording instead.

he didn’t think it was possible for cadence to get even cuter, but there she was, perched on his kitchen counter singing along with a grin so wide that his own face hurt from looking at her.

“when it ends, don’t wanna let you know,” cadence sang softly, “i don’t wanna be alone.” she leaned over and nudged raleigh’s elbow off the counter and gave him an adoring look.

he sighed before clearing his throat to sing along. “i can feel you take control of who i am and all i’ve ever known,” he crooned, “loving you’s the antidote.”

the brilliant smile on her face almost made his humiliation worth it. _almost_. cadence put her phone back on silent and her eyes softened as she looked at him.

“raleigh – is that how you really felt?” raleigh could only nod sheepishly. “you do know i feel the same way?”

“what?”

cadence rolled her eyes. “come on, you’re _raleigh carrera_. thousands, if not tens of thousands, of fans would love to be with you and everyone always wonders why you’re with _me_ , the boring, goody-two-shoes, pop star. i know what all the tabloids and your fans say, they all feel like you can do better.” cadence looked down at her lap, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “and they’re probably right.”

raleigh looked at her dumbfounded. surely, she wasn’t serious? did she really have no clue that she was the one who brings light to his life? and without it, he’d just drown in his own drunken stupor. he stood up abruptly, startling cadence slightly with the sound of the scraping chair as he walked around the kitchen table to her side of the kitchen counter.

“you have no idea what you do to me, do you cadence dorian?” he murmured, tilting his face upward so cadence could stare into his gorgeous eyes. “you are everything that is good, and light, and real in my life and i don’t deserve you.”

“well, maybe we deserve each other,” she retorted, amused.

raleigh smirked. “does that mean you don’t love matt?”

cadence rolled her eyes and wiggled her left hand in front of his face. “it was all publicity, baby. and maybe a little payback to get your attention.”

his eyes narrowed. “are you fucking kidding me?”

“you couldn’t stand to be in the same room with me, raleigh. it was actually matt’s idea and it worked, didn’t it? you were finally _honest_ with me,” cadence said, pointedly. “you should be flattered, really.”

raleigh couldn’t help but fail at holding his smirk and broke out into a grin. “i love you.”

cadence felt her eyes get misty. “i love you too, raleigh. so much,” she leaned in and he met her halfway in a searing kiss full of longing, desire, and love.

he stepped closer, nudging cadence’s knees apart so he could pull her flush against him. his hands ran up and down her back, settling on her thighs as he kissed her relentlessly, swallowing any sighs, gasps, or breaths she tried to take as he bit her lip, kissed her neck, sucked on her collarbone, and moved back up to her lips again.

“raleigh, please, i need _more_ ,” cadence gasped as his hands squeezed her butt. she tried to ground herself on his broad shoulders but his bare skin beneath her fingers felt as hot as she did at her core. raleigh let out a low growl and pulled back just far enough away so he could balance before he lifted her up off the counter.

he continued kissing her collarbone as he walked over to his bedroom, laying her gently down on the comforter. he massaged her breasts with one hand while searching for a zipper or way to take off her romper with the other.

“what the fuck is with this dress?” he said between kisses. “it is not giving me access to you.”

cadence laughed, that sweet, ringing laugh he missed so much. “it’s a _romper_ , raleigh. you take it off all at once,” she said, doing her best to look seductively at him while untying the halter strap and lowering the zipper so he could pull the romper off her and throw it on the floor, followed by his sweatpants.

“don’t wear that stupid thing again,” he growled as he buried his head between her legs. cadence gasped at the sudden feel of raleigh’s tongue on her clit and fingers against her core, stoking the fire she felt before.

“i won’t, _god_ , raleigh, that feels so good—i need you, _now_ ,” she whimpered, reaching down to grab his face and pull him up to her.

raleigh groaned and lined himself up at her entrance. he leaned down to kiss her deeply and watch with satisfaction at her face as he pinched her nipples and reached down to grab her ass. cadence impatiently locked her legs behind his and pulled him toward her, sighing with satisfaction once he was fully inside her.

“you feel so good, cadence,” raleigh growled, nipping at her bottom lip as he started thrusting slowly.

cadence lightly scratched his back up and down before settling her hands on his ass and grabbing them firmly. “faster, raleigh. _please_ ,” she didn’t care that she was begging, only that she wanted more of him.

raleigh started moving at an almost punishing pace, but cadence matched him thrust for thrust until she couldn’t take it anymore. she didn’t know where she ended and raleigh began. he filled all her senses - his touch, his kisses, until she couldn’t think of anything _but_ him. she cried out his name as the pressure became almost unbearable and raleigh watched with awe at how radiant she looked coming apart in his arms. it didn’t take long before he followed suit, grunting her name and collapsing on top of her.

“i love you,” cadence whispered, as raleigh slid off her and pulled her in to his side.

raleigh leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead. “i love you, too. i don’t know about you but i really need a nap. i stayed out really late last night waiting at my girlfriend’s apartment but she was a no-show.”

cadence let herself quietly internalize his words. “are you sure you’re ready? we’re going to do this together?”

he nodded. “i don’t want to be without you anymore. i _can’t_ be without you, cadence.”

cadence hummed and curled her body into him even closer. “good. i’ll be your antidote.”

“you’re never going to let that go, are you?” he said, but without any real snark in his tone.

“nope, you’re stuck with me, raleigh carrera,” cadence murmured sleepily as raleigh pulled up the comforter to cover her shoulders.

he would take however long she was wiling to stick with him, because there was no doubt in his mind, he was head over heels in love with her. he looked down at cadence’s sleeping form, and for the first time in a long while, felt completely relaxed and content. as he felt his body slip into sleep, his last thought was about how much he he was looking forward to waking up with light.

**Author's Note:**

> i appreciate any comments you may have - to find this on tumblr, feel free to check out my writing/art reblogs @homeformyheart.


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